Raisedon Baya
LAST week I stumbled upon a Press briefing by the Honourable Makhosini Hlongwane, who is the Minister of Sport and Recreation. Well, to be honest, I didn’t really stumble upon it but went to the briefing at the invitation of a friend. If I had just walked into that room without an invitation I would have been escorted out. So there I sat among sports journalists and sports enthusiasts curiously waiting for the Minister to arrive and deliver his talk. While I sat, waiting, I kept telling myself I was not sitting throughout the whole briefing but how wrong I was because as soon as the Minister opened his mouth and started talking about the coming sports policy I knew I was not going anywhere until he was done with his speech and that is exactly what happened.
The Honourable Hlongwane is a charismatic speaker. Eloquent and very convincing. He spoke about many things, things contained in the soon to be unveiled sports policy document.
He focused on the key issues contained in the coming document: issues around infrastructure development and support, sport administration, national associations and their governance, national programming, and the vision his Ministry has in terms of supporting sports and recreational activities in the country. Most importantly, he acknowledged the accusation that his Ministry was more of a soccer Ministry but assured the gathering that his Ministry was working to change that perception by supporting all sports codes.
Honestly, it was refreshingly to hear a Minister speak so fluently and so confidently about his Ministry’s future plans. After an hour or so of sitting and listening to the Honourable Minister I told myself the arts sector had really missed out. I remember walking out of the briefing wondering what the mood in the arts sector would be like today if they had been left under Sports, Arts and Recreation. Many of you will remember that until recently Arts and Sport were like twins, always going together.
I don’t like complaining or comparing. But there is no choice until things get right or better. I think it’s high time the arts industry meets with the Minister responsbile for arts and culture. Many players, including myself, have never heard the Minister speak about his or the Ministry’s vision for the arts sector. Most players are in the dark about the Ministry’s plans for the sector. A year or so ago we were all excited about crafting a national arts policy and we understand that the process was finished a long time ago but it is the silence around the policy that is worrisome. Is the policy coming out or it was just a wasted time since it was done under another parent Ministry?
Why would a whole sector be worried about whether a Minister has made a public speech or not? Well, it’s simple. The Minister is the leader, the captain of the ship. It would instill a lot of confidence if he were to come out in the open and publicly speak to the vision and plans of the sector. What is the plan in terms of propping up national institutions or associations in the arts, most of whom are briefcase projects? What is the plan in capacitating the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe as a parastatal? The feeling among arts players is that the national body must be able to do more than just write documents and register promoters.
It can only do so if given more teeth to bite and more resources. What is the Ministry’s plans in harnessing and even harvesting from the new syllabus that has just been introduced in schools? How is the parent Ministry relating to other ministries or Government departments that have arts as part of their portfolios? What are the programming plans in terms of the whole country? In general where does the Ministry see the arts in the next five years? And what role will it be playing to get to that position? That is what many of us want to hear.
Listening to the Honourable Hlongwane it was clear that he knew where he wants to put sports and recreation in the near future. You could see his vision in his words and eyes. We wait to hear the same from the Honourable Minister responsible for arts speak about his Ministry’s vision and future plans for the sector. At least a speech to give us hope, something to hold onto and dream about.